Colombia truck bomb wounds 14 before inauguration

A truck bomb exploded near a police station in Cucuta, close to Colombia's border with Venezuela, wounding 14 people days before President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella is due to take office, officials said Saturday.

The latest official toll said 11 police officers and three civilians were injured in the early-morning blast. William Villamizar, governor of Norte de Santander department, said two of the wounded officers were fighting for their lives.

The Colombian government blamed rebels from the National Liberation Army, or ELN, the country's largest active guerrilla group. Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez said ELN "narcoterrorists" were responsible and offered a reward of more than $64,000 for information leading to the arrest of those behind the bombing.

De la Espriella, a right-wing millionaire lawyer, condemned the attack as "an atrocious, violent act" and said in a post on X: "Terrorism will not intimidate Colombia." The United Nations also condemned the bombing and said it was spreading fear among residents.

De la Espriella is scheduled to take the oath of office on August 7, succeeding Gustavo Petro, Colombia's first leftist president. Presidential inaugurations are traditionally held at the Congress building in Bogota, but De la Espriella requested that the ceremony be moved to Cali in southwest Colombia.

His inauguration is expected to involve about 11,000 soldiers and police officers carrying out operations on land, at sea and in the air. De la Espriella has promised to intensify the fight against guerrillas and drug-trafficking organizations, and plans to seek military alliances with the United States and Israel.

Guerrilla groups have issued warnings to De la Espriella, who plans to end the peace negotiations Petro had been conducting with several armed organizations. Petro's talks with the ELN halted in January 2025 after the group launched an offensive against rival guerrillas in the northeast, killing more than 100 people.

Colombia is the world's largest producer of cocaine. The ELN funds its activities through drug trafficking and other illegal activities, according to the supplied authorities.

De la Espriella has repeatedly alleged that there is a plot to assassinate him. The election campaign was marked by political violence and an escalation of the armed conflict involving bombs, explosive-laden drones and attacks against security forces. In 2025, right-wing presidential hopeful and senator Miguel Uribe Turbay was shot at an event in Bogota and later died.

Petro was spending his last days in office on a visit to Cuba and had not commented on the attack in the supplied update.